Canada beats Czechs, U.S. wins at hockey worlds
Written by I Dig SportsPRAGUE -- Dylan Cozens scored a shorthanded goal in overtime for Canada to edge Czechia (the Czech Republic) 4-3 and complete the preliminary round at the ice hockey world championship Tuesday with seven straight wins.
The Buffalo Sabres center scored his second of the game with 1:47 left with Pierre-Luc Dubois in the penalty box for holding. It was Cozens' tournament-leading eighth goal.
Canada topped Group A with 19 points and will face Slovakia, the fourth team in Group B, in the quarterfinals.
The Czechs are second on 16 points, two more than third-place Switzerland, which faces Finland later Tuesday for their seventh and final preliminary round game.
Down 3-1 with less than five minutes in regulation, the hosts forced overtime with two goals after twice pulling goaltender Lukas Dostal.
Ondrej Palat reduced Canada's lead to 3-2 by deflecting a shot into the net on a power play with Dostal pulled for a two-man advantage.
Roman Cervenka tied the game with 1:49 left.
The game was scoreless through two periods. Cozens opened the scoring on a power play 1:01 into the third period from the top of the left circle.
Dominik Kubalik one-timed a shot from the right to tie it at 1-1 on a power play.
Dawson Mercer netted a backhand to put Canada ahead again and Brandon Hagel made it 3-1 on a breakaway before the Czechs pulled even.
The United States finished second in Group B after beating Latvia 6-3 in their final preliminary game highlighted by Cole Caufield's two goals and two assists.
Brady Tkatchuk, Matt Boldy and Zach Werenski had a goal and an assist each, and Joel Farabee also scored.
The Americans will play either Czechia or Switzerland in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Latvia, last year's bronze medalist, was eliminated.
Group B winner Sweden will meet Finland next.
Earlier, Britain rallied past Austria 4-2 for its first win.
The victory came after six straight losses for Britain, which finished bottom in Group A with three points and had been already relegated after one year in the top division.
Austria needed to win the game in regulation to retain a chance of qualifying for the playoff round for the first time since 1994. Finland got a playoff spot instead with a game to play against Switzerland later Tuesday.
Germany completed Group B with a 6-3 win over France and was third with 15 points.
Later Tuesday, Sweden meets Slovakia.